When was dadaab refugee camp started

Connectivity Established in Dadaab. When refugees started flooding Dadaab, Kenya to escape intense famine, drought, and armed conflict in East Africa, no one could have imagined just how massive the refugee center would grow to be.

Today, the camp complex hosts three generations of refugees. Dadaab is their home. A sparse area, Dadaab had little to offer as far as communication, digital access, and education until when NetHope, Cisco, Microsoft, Inveneo, and USAID implemented a large-scale high-speed broadband network.

Dadaab occupies a generally flat low lying area with altitude ranging between and meters above sea level; the area is devoid of mountains and hills. The lack of these features facilitates easy movement for both human being and livestock. The area is hot and dry throughout the year. Generally the average rainfall ranges between mm per year. The temperature of Dadaab is always hot most of the year and ranges between 21 and 38 degrees centigrade.

There is a relatively cooler spell between the months of April and August. Dadaab Camps are home to many people and communities who fled their home countries seeking mainly security and basic necessities such as food and shelter.

Each camp is divided into sections that are further divided into blocks. A section has a minimum of a block to a maximum of about 30 blocks.

Each block is head by a male and a female block leader. The male and female block leaders elect a male and a female section leader who will be in charge of the section. All the section leaders will in turn elect the overall chairman and the chairlady of the camp.

They are also involved in the conflict resolution and management at block level. Due to civil war, merciless killings, explosions, drought and extreme scarcity of food in Somalia, the number of people seeking refugee from Somalia in Dadaab increased to over half a million people.

The new population is residing in generally poorer conditions in terms of food, healthcare and education. Livelihoods are severely limited within the camps. The main forms of livelihoods are relief, remittances and some small livestock. I attended the camp's primary and secondary schools, graduating from the latter in I am forever grateful to Kenya because this education opened many pathways for me. This opportunity was made possible by the prestigious International Presidential Scholarship.

I will forever consider Kenya as a home and I hope to return to East Africa after my studies in order to contribute to the development, peace, and prosperity of the region. It is never easy to navigate the ups and downs of life in a refugee camp, especially not as a young person. Every day, you wake up with hopes and dreams but they are crushed by the fear of being confined to the camp for the rest of your life. I know people who have lived here for more than two decades and they still have no idea when they will get out of this place.

It is not just one or two times that I have felt like I do not matter and that I am not a full human being. It happens all the time.

I get angry sometimes and ask myself why the world would want to cage human beings with dreams and aspirations in remote places and pretend that they do not exist. A refugee camp is not conducive to human growth. It kills your spirit. However, every time that I go to a school and sit in a classroom, this feeling changes and I think about a brighter future instead. The two most important things to keep in mind are, first, finding appropriate solutions to the long-term problems of the camps, and second, only closing the camps if absolutely necessary, and in a safe, considerate, and well-timed manner.

No one will wait for the UNHCR or the Kenyan government to repatriate them back to their home countries if those places suddenly become peaceful. If there is peace then everyone will pack their bags and go home happily because that is their only dream. People stay in refugee camps because it is their only option.

It was planned as a 'settlement' rather than a 'camp' which is intended to promote self-reliance. It is unclear in news reports if Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement will also face closure. The conditions are still very fragile and this option is not viable for the majority of refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya.

Repatriation under such conditions would likely not be voluntary. It is not a sustainable option for all of those who would need to move due to the closures. Integration into Kenya -- A refugee is perceived to be "integrated into the asylum country when he or she becomes a citizen through naturalization or when he or she enjoys a legal status that provides for effective access to socio-economic and civil fundamental rights" UNHCR Kenya.

There is a provision in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its Protocol of that establishes that the Contracting States shall -- as much as is possible -- facilitate the integration and naturalization of refugees. Kenya's national legislation states that refugees should have access to basic rights. Among other things, these include being given work permits to access the labour market, opportunities to establish small businesses and self-employment activities, and access to legal statuses to apply for permanent residency.